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Howdy! Super brilliant work here – she was so quick to pick up the rhythm that you had to go faster too LOL!! Love it! The little confusion you saw is just an indicator of side preference: she is a righty 🙂 We often see the side preference on this game. She *easily* could offer turning to her right – she was not quite sure what to do with herself when she had to turn to her left. Totally normal, and I had the same thing with Contraband (my blue Merle puppy) when he learned this game: he is a lefty and gave me the same response as Vanessa was giving you when I wanted him to turn to his right.
So, we can make it easier to turn left for her while maintaining the challenge of the right turn (which was easy for her) – you can move the food bowl closer to the wing on that side. So, thinking from your view: the food bowl next to your left hand can stay where it is (that is the food bowl that elicits the right turn). The food bowl nearer your right hand can move closer to the upright – that is the bowl that elicits the left turn. If the bowl is closer to where she arrives on that side around the wing, she should have an easier time turning back to produce the left turn – and therefore have a higher success rate which leads to more happy-making on left turns. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
When the sides are balanced out and she feels more comfy turning to her left – we can start getting you standing up.Great job here!!! She is picking this up soooooo quickly 🙂 Let me know what you think!
TracyHi again! So fun to watch his videos 🙂
Lovely mechanics here with your decel and the timing of your turn – it allowed him to really bend his body so nicely around your leg as you turned. He was CRACKING me up, though: looking for more cookies in the bowl and was so engrossed in it that at :35, he looked up and didn’t know where you were for a second. Gah, I love him! My only suggestion on this one is, for now, bend over more as you feed so that he doesn’t have to lift his chin – he can look straight or slightly downwards through the turn. Thankfully he will grow so you won’t always have to bend over.
I think the cookies were in your hand on all of these – he did really well so now you can try it with and empty hand – everything is exactly the same except your hand is empty and you whip out the cookie from the other hand after he turns.Great job on all of these! He is such a perfect puppy <3
Tracy
Hi again! Free days are perfect for puppy training, especially with such nice weather! Wing wrapping looks great – he very quickly figured out the joys of the back-and-forth between the bowls (easiest game EVER, according to Disco LOL!) The only time he stopped was when you reloaded the treats but then he got right back on it. So…. onwards to adding an upright! Get the back and forth warmed up with some treats just like you did here, then slide the upright in and see if he finds the rhythm with it there (I think he will be fine with it). We will be able to progress this very quickly, he is a SMARTIE!!
T
Hi! He looks like he has awesome tug drive, it is hard to get him to let go!! We can add some ‘let go off the toy’ games haha He was driving ahead really nicely! The other toy was a distraction: “why would I go *there* when there is a fabulous toy right *here*?” LOL!! Smart dog 🙂 So you can throw the toy and let go sooner, before he has a chance to think about the toy on the ground near you – the thrown toy is more alive if it is moving. When you waited an extra heartbeat to let go, he would look back and forth between toys. He worked out how to get the toy out ahead brilliantly!!!! I think you can get even more drive ahead if you either have the other toy a little more hidden, or you run with him to the toy you threw (he really liked it when you moved). So you can add in the moving now – he is doing great!!
T
Awww, this was super!!!! Picture it eventually turning into send and go on a jump – he was nailing it!! On the first couple of reps, your hand/arm was a little too interested and salient, so he was not sure if he should go to the prop. When you switched to your left side, you also really softened the arm use, letting your hand gently move with your leg but not really extend much more than that: that was perfect for him. He was reading the leg, it was supported with a bit of hand/arm – and then he had it. Yay! He was focused on til the send and then he was able to look forward at his work. NICE!! On the first rep or two of each session, you can add in tossing the reward to the prop just to refresh the value, or do a couple of clicks/treats for it. Then you can move into the sends and add the distance you were getting by the end (that was so fun to see!!!!).
I think he did a great job playing with the toy after all the food rewards! Food is high value so it might sometimes be harder to get the toy engagement. I’ve found that it you run away and get the toy moving/dragging to get chase going – it helps ignite the tug plus it moves his nose away from the food scent that is in that area. And, some pups think shaping is all about food and not toys, so definitely keep incorporating toy play into these games, either between treats or as the reward.
Great job here!!!! You can add in some sideways and backwards sends now too!!
TracyHi!!
>> it easier for you if I post at the end of my thread like this, instead of attempting to group posts by game? The OCD in me is wanting more organization options in this forum>>
It is easier for me like this when I am working in the forum on the site. But I can also come in via the email notifications which take me directly to your post. Either way is fine! We tried to fine a forum that could do things several different ways but there was nothing nimble enough for what we needed (or at least that we could afford, there are some that are a bit of out of reach LOL!!). You should be able to use the tags on your post then when you want to see topics, you can click on the tag and they should group together.
He did really well here – you were showing a clear transition to slowing down earlier, so he also had plenty of time to make the transition and was able to end up at your side in decel a lot more easily. You rewarded with the dog-side hand on some and with the arm across your body on others – based on his response, I think dog-side arm works best for him – he was right on you and had the best head turns and body bends on those. When you rewarded with the arm across the body, it pulled him a little too far across and his butt ended up a bit more perpendicular to you, if that makes sense. It is subtle for sure – it is probably easier to reward with the dog-side arm, so I am glad he responds so nicely to it!!
Nice job!!
TracyHi! Having a holder is a whole new level of fun and excitement!!! Yay!!! He was a little chill on the first rep and did just fine…. but kicked it into super high gear on the 2nd rep. Yessssss 🙂 He smoked you (exactly what we want, thanks Wingman LOL!) Then light bulb was on and he smoked you again on rep 3. Then it was ALL smoke da momma. Perfect!
You can also add ping pong recalls: he drives ahead, you play… then you send him back to his holder (and she can have another cookie or toy to reward). That gets good recalls going, plus he has to leave the cookies/toys she will have on her, and then he has to leave you on cue to go back to her. All sorts of layered in distraction work and choices, all while being silly and letting him drive ahead (actually, you were really running, so “letting” him is the wrong word hahaha!) Plus it should tire him out a bit LOL!
Great job!
TracyHi again! What a good girl! Love the foot pounce! This is basically baby’s first gamble LOL! The forward sends looked fabulous – you can start them with a little more of the ready dance where you get her engaged with some silliness before sending her. That will help her know exactly when to start the send, especially when you are moving back towards the prop. I loved how she focused forward on her line to the prop!
When you went to the sideways sends, the first one was a bit too far from the prop – nice adjustment to get a little closer, totally helped her out. Also, on the sideways and backwards sends – you can shift your connection from her cute little face/eyes to the prop as you step sideways or back to it – that can further clarify that it is good to leave you. She was really catching on so nicely!!!! These early commitment games are helping her understand that you will be sending and running the other way quite early, and she is doing *awesome* with them.
As you keep playing with these, you can add in more distance and you can also use a toy as the reward.Great job!!!
TracyHi! Lovely session here! (Also a good way to tire out a puppy hahaaha) Cookie throw followed by driving to you – completely great, she was happy to shift into decel and turn on your leg. Good reward placement and she was really nicely bending on the turn!
Adding the tug toy in looked like it was a little harder – she seemed to be thinking about cookies 🙂 You can add 2 thigns to get the tugging easier: a higher value toy, something really special that she doesn’t get to see often (fur maybe? Or something crazy and long?) and also when you a start the tugging, have her chase you and the toy to a different spot that is away from the food smells. That chase plus being away from the food smell will help get her right back on the toy. I really like her food drive (it is unusual in baby BCs to have great food drive!) so we will definitely look to maintain it as we add the transitions back to the toy.
Nice work!
TracyHi! She is doing well! She is learning to let your run with her and I think the distraction is not so much your running, but more about your exciting praise! When you are with her and playing, the fun chat is fine. When you praise as she is picking up the toy, it is harder. On the first rep, you started praising as she got her mouth on the toy, so she turned to look at you with the toy in her mouth. On the 2nd rep, you started praising before she picked up the toy, so she did not pick it up in favor of looking at you. On rep 3, you hung back a bit more plus you were more “chill” on the praise – so she grabbed the toy. I think if you combine the running of reps 1 and 2 with the being quieter until she had a good hold on the toy… it will be perfect! I love how she is driving straight to it and leaving you in the dust. Yay!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracySo she only turned that direction when she was all done, and ignored them in favor of being perfect the rest of the session? GOOD GIRLIE!!!! Extra treats and toys for her!!!!!!! Yay!!!!
Hi!
>> Be quiet when I am asking for the offer. Got it. She don’t know whether to look at me or the prop. Got it. Makes sense.>>Right – when you talk to her, she loves the engagement with you <3. So when you are quiet, it is almost like a permission to look away and offer behavior.
>> Oh. Question. I checked out the send game. So I am ready for that. So I should use the red bag for that? Toss that? Or a toy? Or mix it up? Thanks!!>>
Yes, she is ready for you to send with one step with the arm & leg. I think the bag is the strongest prop for now (plus we get to see more of that sooooo cute foot pounce :))Have the bag already on the ground, send her – then when she hits it, reward with a cookie or toy from your hand, back at you. Start nice and close so she can get the idea before we add distance 🙂 Have fun!!
TracyHi!
>>So I started to play the focus forward game and realized I had a problem with the toy play 🙂
Ah yes, I see it: I call it “velociraptoring”. Lots of open mouth near hands! Great dog training to take the next session to be all like “mouth on toy – play! Mouth near hands – things stop.” I think he was figuring it out! You can also do some retrieves where you toss the toy way out to he can grab/focus on it, with your hands NOT nearby LOL! And when you restrain him, a harness might be easier – it is possible that the hands more directly on him were too stimulating and that is part of why he was more mouthy there, so a finger on the harness might be less stimulating.
My dogs ALL are raptors on their toys early on, so I also reward the self-control of not grabbing my hands or open mouth near my hands by tossing a small handful of treats away – he gets rewarded and it buys you time to safely pick up the toy and re-start. He is happy to go back and forth between food and toys, right? If not, we can work that but if so, we will use that to help him learn the mechanics of these transitions. I am sure the drive ahead will be easy peasy for him, so this is a good detour for now! In fact, focusing on these cookie and toy skills will allow you to sail through the other stuff so easily, so I am glad you are taking these dog training detours. Click/treat for you 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there!! I think he matches his rhythm to the music in the background LOL!!!
>>So, for now I’m skipping the deceleration/wrap until we can do it with me enjoying food taken from fingers>>
100% understandable! You can do it with a tug, or maybe buy a big jar of peanut butter and let him stick his face into it as the reward. Anything to protect fingers!
The prop game is looking good! I like the feeding tray 🙂 You can also use the Manners Minder by setting it next to you – indicate the send to the prop then click the MM. That will add great challenges for him because he will have to leave the MM to get the MM 🙂 The foot hits look good so you can totally do more sending. Also, you can play this with the toy in your hand.
With the right side being harder, stay pretty close to the prop for now so the value if super high. You can add the challenge of more distance on the left side. The right side will catch up pretty quickly.Back and forth looks awesome too!!! And I could see you getting up into the stand 🙂 He had the rhythm really nicely. You can add a little challenge by moving the 2 bowls a little further back, by your hips – so he has further to travel, has to bend more, and the option to cut between the upright and you is more visible. If he has questions, you can bring the upright in closer to you but I don’t think he will have questions on it 🙂
Great job!!
TracyHi again!
Super nice drive forward! You are even delaying the release with a little ready ready and she is maintaining her focus forward to the line (and not losing her mind – I love that she can get more excited and NOT go feral haha!!). And then she easily came into the drive to handler focus even with added layers of excitement. GOOD GIRLIE! This bodes really well for the layers we will be adding where the pups come in with more speed and still turn tight, then explode out of it. I am excited!!! One little detail – as you were finished at the end, note how she turned away from you to her right rather than towards you. Keep an eye on that and see if she is showing a side preference to turn to her right in other aspects of training or life. If not, no worries! If so, also no worries, we will just encourage her to turn towards to to the left into those moments and not away to the right even if the right is the easier side. Generally the dogs should turn towards us unless specifically asked to turn away, if that makes sense.
Great job here on all of the videos!!! Let me know what you think 🙂
Tracy
